Trying to find the right power switch for my XPS

[Rodf]

I've got a Dell XPS 8700, which I purchased from Costco about 4 years ago. The power switch has been causing me some problems in starting it when I shut it down, for a while now. Last Sunday I shut it down to blow the dust out of it (I live in New Mexico, dust is a reality everyone deals with here). When I tried to turn it on, it wouldn't work. No sound, nothing. We took it to Best Buy and had them look at the power supply - it's fine. Their guess is the motherboard might be bad. And they claim that, given the age of the machine, a replacement motherboard, memory, CPU, etc. would rise it close to the price of a new PC anyway. Honestly, getting a new PC is just not in my budget at the moment. I was hoping to get another year, maybe 2 out of this thing.

 

So I talked this over with a colleague at work. He suggested that the problem might be the power switch. That kinda makes sense, especially given what I said earlier about experiencing problems with it turning on for a while now. So we tried looking it up. Even though I had the service tag for it (DK49122), when I went to Dell's website, I couldn't find anything there about the power switch. Looking further my colleague and I came across this page on Dell's community/forums: https://www.dell.com/community/XPS-Desktops/XPS-8700-power-button-broke/td-p/5761325. One person poo-pooed the whole power switch is the issue thing, but others in that thread agreed that they had an issue with the power switch on their 8700. So, tonight when I got home I did more looking into it to see if I could find the replacement part, which looks like it's F7M7N from the link I gave previously. I've looked on Amazon where I found this https://www.amazon.com/Power-Button-Switching-0F7M7N-F7M7N/dp/B07VFRR21G/ref=sr_1_7?hvadid=77653121202498&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvqmt=e&keywords=f7m7n&qid=1571963282&sr=8-7. I'm a bit put off by the 1 star rating for that seller. So, I looked at Newegg to see what they had, I came across this https://www.newegg.com/p/2S7-01JA-13DF7?Description=F7M7N&cm_re=F7M7N-_-9SIAJHYA719437-_-Product. 

 

Now, what bothers me is that on Amazon the part is F7M7N, but on Newegg its cn-F7M7N. I don't like that variation. How can I tell which one I should go with?

[schoondoggy]

First, I would confirm it is the switch. PC power buttons are a momentary contact switch. The user guide details the removal process for the switch assembly. You need to be able to get to the back of the switch and bridge/short the two wires to see if the system starts. If it starts by bridging, then it is likely that the switch is bad.

If you want to replace the entire assembly I would look at this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Power-button-with-Switching-Line-For-DELL-XPS-8300-8500-8700-0F7M7N/274065774246?epid=21034592009&hash=item3fcf97d6a6:g:c1IAAOSwi~FdsXHu

If you can reuse the plastic mount I would look at this:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/XPS-Case-Cable-Switching-Line-for-Dell-XPS-8300-8500-8700-0F7M7N-F7M7N-DJ/163881456827?hash=item26281894bb:g:d5IAAOSwmU1cvncB

You could also just replace the switch.

[Rodf]

What user guide are you referring to?

[Rodf]

Did you mean the Owner's Manual?

[schoondoggy]

Sorry owners manual, page 57:

https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_xps_desktop/xps-8700_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

[Rodf]

Her Schoondoggy, I've got a chance to get at the power button. Looking at it I don't see how I can bridge the wires. They're covered with plastic/rubber right down to the base of the button, on the under side of the switch.

It's the red and blue wires

[schoondoggy]

you could use two tacks or pins to penatrate the insulation and make contact with the wires. then short between the two tacks/pins.

[Rodf]

Praise God a new power switch is what it took!! Its in place and I'm using my ol', trusty desktop PC. YEEHA!!  Will have to save up for a new desktop, but at least I now have a breather.